a shocker

today, having a bit of free time on my hands, i logged on to the Straits Times Interactive, and came across a piece of news that shocked me.

Student dies in freak accident in US

Chipboards fall on S'pore PR as he is unloading them for theatre production

By June Cheong, ARTS REPORTER

A SINGAPORE theatre practitioner studying in Yale University in the United States died in an accident there on Sunday morning.

Mr Pierre-Andre Salim, 26, a graduate student studying technical design and production at the Yale School of Drama, was helping to unload materials from a trailer truck when heavy sheets of chipboard fell on him.

The boards were part of the set for an upcoming theatre production by the Yale Repertory Theatre.
The incident happened just outside the theatre in New Haven, Connecticut, around 9.30am (10.30pm, Singapore time). Mr Salim died later from massive head injuries at Yale-New Haven Hospital, according to the university's daily newspaper, the Yale Daily News.

New Haven police have classified his death as an accident, the Connecticut daily newspaper, The Hartford Courant, reported.

The Jakarta-born Singapore permanent resident graduated from the National University of Singapore in 2002 with a computer science degree, and had been active in the theatre scene here before going to Yale for the three-year Master of Fine Arts course.

His parents flew to the US from Jakarta, arriving in New Haven on Monday night, said his close friend, theatre producer Felina Khong.

She said his elder brother Michel, a computer science PhD student at Indiana University, is already in New Haven and his younger sister Adeline, a medical student at the University of Liverpool in Britain, will join her family today.

Other Singapore theatre practitioners currently in the US, such as Brooklyn-based production coordinator Audrey Hoo and freelance theatre production manager Tan Lay Hoon, have also flown to New Haven for a memorial service to be held today at Yale's The University Theatre.

Playwright Huzir Sulaiman, who is in Yale on a fellowship, said that a Catholic priest will recite prayers and there will be speeches by friends and family.

A vigil held at the university on Monday night was attended by more than 150 Yale students and drama school faculty members, he added.

Mr Huzir, 34, joint artistic director of local theatre group Checkpoint Theatre and Mr Salim's good friend, told The Straits Times in a phone interview: 'My wife and I were in New York about to leave for our holiday when we heard. So we came back. Pierre was utterly devoted to theatre and to people in theatre.
'He was very passionate about the Singapore theatre scene and always talked of returning to Singapore after Yale to apply his training.'

Mr Salim was a member of Checkpoint Theatre, working as a stage manager, production manager and lighting and video operator. He also worked on theatre productions by other companies such as the Singapore Repertory Theatre's Madame Butterfly and The Theatre Training And Research Programme's The Secret Souk.
Before leaving for Yale, he worked as the production manager for last year's production of the musical Cabaret by Toy Factory Productions.

Director of Cabaret Beatrice Chia-Richmond, 33, said: 'Pierre was one of those guys you hope your daughter marries. He was incredibly reliable and responsible. He never failed you.'

The theatre community here is also organising a memorial service for him this Saturday. It will be held at 5.30pm at the Drama Centre Function Rooms 1 and 2.

Ms Khong, 37, said: 'Everyone's still trying to cope with his death.

'He never said no to any challenge. His passion was so much in theatre that he lived and died for it.'

I knew Pierre back in 2003. In fact, I still have the 1st email he sent me when he introduced himself. Pierre-André, in fact was his name. His mails always reflected a cheerful personality, filled with enthusiasm for theatre and the local arts. It was always nice receiving an email from him, coz they were filled with sincerity. We had intended to meet up once when he invited me to attend an awards ceremony with him, but I never did. Because he worshipped at my parent's church, there were occasions I though about this virtual friend, and whether he would be around. I knew that during one Christmas evangelistic event, he was tending to the sound system. But all through out the years, we never did ever meet.

Isn't it a tragedy to see someone's photo in the orbituary?

Reminded me of the time I heard that the junior from vj died in a freak car accident in the UK. She too, appeared in the papers.

Lives taken away. So suddenly.

Makes you wonder about missed opportunities.

Missed opportunities of knowing someone before he/she leaves this earthly existence.